Barry Ackerley (1935-2011) Mansion

View From Dock

This is the former Denny-Blaine home of Barry and Ginger Ackerley. The mansion was purchased from the Ackerleys 6/11/2008 for $13.3 million by Dr. Frederic Hutchins Moll. The property was listed for sale for $15.0 Million in 2009 (Betsy Terry, Ewing and Clark) and later taken off the market.

Barry Ackerley (1935-2011) is a former owner of the NBA Seattle SuperSonics (aka Sonics). He purchased the Sonics in 1983 from Sam Schulman, who founded the team in 1967. The team won the NBA championship in 1979. During the 18 years of Ackerley’s ownership the team reached the playoffs 13 times. From The Seattle Times obituary: “Mr. Ackerley sold the Sonics in 2001 to a group of investors led by Howard Schultz [page 21 LW 130 Homes]. Mr. Ackerley was saddened when the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.” The team made the playoffs only once after it was sold by Ackerley in 2001. The Times article also noted “Ackerley came to Seattle and became its baron of billboards.” He was the founder and former Chairman/CEO of The Ackerley Group. The Ackerley Group owned television and radio stations that were purchased by Clear Channel Communications in 2001.

Dr. Moll graduated from Seattle’s Lakeside HS in 1969. (Other LW 130 Homes graduates of Lakeside include Charles Pigott ’47, Craig McCaw ’68, Paul Allen ’71 and Bill Gates ’73.) Dr. Moll received his MD from UW Medical School. He was a surgeon at Virginia Mason in Seattle. In 1989, Dr. Moll co-founded Silicon Valley based Origin Medsystems, Inc., a medical device company, which was acquired by Eli Lilly in 1992 in a $150 million deal. In November 1995, Dr. Moll co-founded Intuitive Surgical Inc., another Silicon Valley medical device company, and served as its first CEO. The company raised $6 million in a 2000 IPO. He co-founded Silicon Valley CA based Hansen Medical in 2002. The company designs and manufactures medical robotics. He was CEO from inception to 2010 when he was named Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. He resigned in 2011 and joined the BOD of Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation in Florida. Maybe he is moving back to this home.

The mansion is on page 33 of LW 130 Homes and has 6,580 sq ft on 0.46 acres. It is a prime lot on a point with 146 feet of waterfront and two docks, a tennis court and swimming pool.

Schrempf’s Mansion Sold – $7.0M to Bernier and McCaw

Detlef and Marianne Schrempf sold their Meydenbauer Bay mansion in April 2011 for $7.0 million to Yahn Bernier and Beth McCaw. The estate has 7,200 sq ft on 0.9 acres with 85 feet of waterfront. More information is in Lake Washington 130 Homes on page 85. This lot with an older home was purchased in 2000 and a new home was built in 2003. The home features covered moorage for a 60 foot yacht, a fabulous great room and kitchen with three fireplaces and a wing for children and guests.

Detlef starred for the SuperSonics from 1993 to 1999 and was an assistant coach for the team’s final 2006-08 seasons in Seattle.  He was selected to the NBA All-Star team 3 times and was the first NBA player born in Europe to score 15,000 career points.  He was born in West Germany and moved from there to Centralia, Washington in his senior year of high school.  He led his school team to the state championship in 1981.  He starred at UW and was on the All-PAC-10 Team.  He started his NBA career in 1985 being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks.  He played on the Sonics team that reached the NBA finals in 1996.  He founded the Detlef Schrempf Foundation in 1996 to support organizations that provide hope, care, and assistance to Northwest children and their families.  Every June the Foundation hosts the Detlef Schrempf Celebrity Golf Classic in Port Orchard and a Celebrity Gala and Auction in Bellevue.

Yahn Bernier is Software Development Engineer at Bellevue based Valve Software. Beth McCaw is a Seattle based attorney.